Bruins playing the waiting game as they prep for Canadiens

Sunday

Apr 27, 2014 at 6:05 PMApr 28, 2014 at 5:46 PM

Like two players circling each other after dropping the gloves, they'll wait before the fireworks begin.

By Dan CagenDaily News staff

BOSTON — Of the eight teams that will eventually fill up the second round of the NHL's playoff bracket, the Canadiens and the Bruins were the first to the first round's finish line.In the Series That Will Start Later — all playoff rounds must be completed before the next begins, so all that's known is the first two games will eventually be at TD Garden — the nemeses will square off.Like two players circling each other after dropping the gloves, they'll wait before the fireworks begin."It's a good rivalry," Shawn Thornton said Saturday evening, after the Bruins brushed aside the Red Wings with a five-game first-round victory. "I mean, we've played them a lot in my seven years here, so my initial feeling is embrace it. It's good — both cities really get into it, both teams get into it, so I'm going to enjoy it."This is the fourth postseason meeting in seven years since ex-Habs coach Claude Julien came to Boston, the 34th total, and their first after the opening round since 1992. NHL executives are patting themselves on the back for the new playoff format.By facing the Canadiens, the Bruins will match up with all the other Original Six teams in a playoff series over a two-year span, the first time that's happened. Those weren't Montreal-Boston, though."Another Original Six battle that we get to be a part of and a lot of hatred between the teams, the fans, the cities when it comes to this kind of rivalry, so we expect them to bring their best," said Milan Lucic, who has his own personal rivalry with Canadiens defenseman Alexei Emelin, who Lucic speared and called a "chicken" last month.Having a round under their belt may benefit the top-seeded Bruins in this matchup. They got the CH-lite with the Red Wings in the first round. The Wings wanted to play with speed and precision. With limited personnel against a stout defense, that never developed; Detroit scored six goals in five games.The Canadiens bring some of the same qualities, but on steroids. Defensemen Andrei Markov and P.K. Subban are the pilots of a jet-speed attack. They can rush the puck out themselves, or look up the sheet for home-run passes to hard-charging forwards Max Pacioretty, Thomas Vanek, Brian Gionta and Tomas Plekanec.In their sweep of the Lightning, it was a Bleu-Blanc-et-Rouge blur. The Habs' most lopsided win was a 4-1 decision in Game 2; they scored three even-strength goals in that game, all either off transition or by victimizing Tampa Bay turnovers.In claiming a 4-1 victory over the Bruins on Jan. 30, the Habs turned the Causeway Street ice into their own racetrack. Offensive-zone turnovers by Daniel Paille and Loui Eriksson led to breakaways goals by Pacioretty and Daniel Briere. Montreal won three of the four meetings with the Bruins.Julien is OK with an uptempo game; the Bruins have the skaters and puck-moving defensemen to do so. What they don't want is to allow the odd-man rushes Montreal coach Michel Therrien will seek out."We didn't give up too many chances (against Detroit), and when we did (goalie Tuukka Rask) was there," Dougie Hamilton said. "We played physical and limited their time and space. It probably got pretty frustrating for them. Maybe take the way they play and their game away, and I think for us, we have to really how effective that was and keep doing that and do that to Montreal."Then there are the emotions. Nothing gets under the skin of the Spoked-B contingent — including players, coaches, management and fans — than the sight of Subban, Brendan Gallagher and Co. dropping to the ice and looking to the officials. In the March 24 meeting, Johnny Boychuk snapped when Subban went down one too many times and grabbed the Norris Trophy winner by the collar, giving Montreal a two-man advantage.In the clinching win over the Wings, 13 penalties were called, including three in 1:05 in the second period. Good practice for the Habs, who drew 49 more power plays than the league-low Bruins?"I don't think anyone in here was thinking about that when it happened, but looking back, you can use that as good preparation and understand that over the course of a series, there are going to be things that go wrong or get called against you," Torey Krug said. "We're going to be ready for that. We look forward to the challenge."That goes for the whole series. Montreal-Boston, one more time, and everyone is embracing it.Dan Cagen can be reached at 508-626-3848 or dcagen@wickedlocal.com. Follow him on Twitter @DanCagen.

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